How would you like to see a ravamped Super 14?

Personally I'd like to see a return to the provincial sides, and combine the NPC.

So we'd have 14 provincial sides playing concurrently with the 'Super 15' (or whatever). Five sides from each nation compete in the Super 15 competition (similar to the UEFA cup I think?) in the same format. The teams that aren't playing the Super 15 play each other twice, for a total of 25 games (give or take).

The five who qualify would be something like the top two placed sides from the Super 15 the previous year, and the 3 highest in the provincial competition (which could be the other 3 who did play in the Super 15)

I think this would bring back a lot of interest in the Ranfurly Shield (which sadly is a farce at the moment with the stripped teams), it gives sides massive incentive to play well throughout the whole competition, and traditionally weaker sides can dream of playing in the Super 15.

I think this kind of competition is needed for me personally to remain interested in the Super 14, and it would help balance the teams a bit, but also no 'demotion' means you won't see the oblivion of sides who don't make the cut, as they still play all year. You'd also see different foreign sides and this would increase the number of local derbies.

Thoughts / alterations? I think this would stir up far more interest than the proposed 6-team playoffs and an extra team.

Is this what has come out of the SANZAR meeting in Dubai at the moment?

Nope. They want an extra team, and 6 team playoffs. They are thinking of including Argentina in the tri-nations.

My post is my own idea.

You will never see the provincial sides return, unfortunately. Lets face it, the AirNZ Cup is the new club rugby.

I would like to see up to another four to six teams - USA, Japan, Argentina, Islands, etc - and a two conference system of two divisions of nine or ten teams playing home and away. A finals series between, say, the top five qualifiers (first and second from each conference plus the third placed team from either conference with the highest points) like they do in the NRL would add lots of interest to the final series.

I would then play the Air NZ Cup at the same time as the Super 18/20 as a sort of local N.Z. reserve grade competition where it is clear you are a feeder team and you play on the way up to impress the big time pro-league, or as a punishment, or even as part of a gradual retirement from the game for players past their best who may still get a few extra years passing on skills for a reduced salary...

By my calculation, that would reduce the rugby season to 22-24 weeks (if you give teams bye weeks) and leave plenty of windows for international games.

Club, touch and school rugby could then be split away from the NZRU professional administration into a completely amateur organisation, and the Ranfurly Shield would become the premier trophy for club teams played for in a separate tournament for regional club competition winners.

There's a lot of merit between those two ideas. It does lie somewhere between the NRL and what I assume the euro football club leagues do.

Turn it into a rugby champion's league

Top 5 times from NZ, Saffa, and Aussie provincial competitions qualify.

Artificial teams are gay

yeah, i think the S14 will eventually die... probably not yet, but in a few years.... the only ones holding it up are Aus...

Champions League makes so much more sense... it's a tried and true format.... works really well in the Northern Hemisphere... it'd also allow the smaller nations to compete...

sooner or later everyone's going to get sick of Aus trying to call the shots... they can't get their shit together and get their own domestic league... that's why the keep wanting to extend the competition... which no one else really wants

Aus messed it up for themselves, they went too big with their domestic comp way too early. Tey should have followed footballs led and started with a small league comprising of teams in areas that would pull in crowds (ignore the fact the A-League included the Knights). Then once it's secure start expanding into non-rugby areas.

They should have had gone for something like 8 teams from Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, NSW (not Sydney), Queensland (Not Brisbane). Plus two more teams from either NSW, Sydney, or Brisbane.

Instead they went all out with teams from non-rugby regions and it bombed after one season.